Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 3,400 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,474 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in WaFd were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 9.6% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,201,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,415,000 after purchasing an additional 192,061 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 4.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,510,000 after purchasing an additional 42,432 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 12.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 699,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,928,000 after purchasing an additional 78,457 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 175,039 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,769,000 after acquiring an additional 85,073 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the third quarter worth $3,732,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $27.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. WaFd, Inc has a 1 year low of $23.36 and a 1 year high of $34.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 39.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WAFD shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th.

WaFd Profile

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.